Because of You
by Sarge1
Summary: She ruined his life and now he’s going to ruin hers…and any one else’s who gets in his way. JJCentric, but the rest of the team is heavily involved. PostGideon PreRossi.
1. So It Begins

_Title_: Because of You

_Author_: Sarge1

_Rating_: T

_Summary_: She ruined his life and now he's going to ruin hers…and any one else's who gets in his way. JJCentric, but the rest of the team is heavily involved. Post-Gideon/Pre-Rossi

_Disclaimer_: They're not mine. I'm just playin' with 'em.

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"_While most men choose to try to heal, others need no other reason to turn to darkness than the simple agony of loss."_

- Unknown

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**CHAPTER 1 **

"Come on, JJ," Hotch panted, feeling again for her pulse.

Nothing.

He began compressions again. _One, two, three, four, five…_ He counted them off in his head. He reached fifteen and tilted her chin back, breathing two more breaths into her mouth.

Still nothing.

"No, JJ." He was sounding desperate now, very much unlike the typical collected Hotch. He resumed compressions. "Come on, come on. Breathe, JJ. _Breathe_."

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**Four Days Earlier…**

"Seven victims? And they didn't call us before?" Emily murmured more to herself than to anyone else in the room.

Morgan frowned, his eyes staring intently at the screen. "Are we sure this is even the same guy?" he asked after a moment.

JJ pressed the remote to the wall-mounted projector, moving to the next slide. "It's the same type of victims. Women in their mid-twenties, blonde hair, blue eyes, all found relatively in the same location."

"But not the same MO," the man pointed out.

"He's escalating," Reid stated, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly as he studied the images.

Hotch nodded in agreement. "He started with suffocation and then moved on to strangulation," he began, "But when that lost its thrill, he began exploring other means."

"The stabbing on victim four suggests some hesitation, as though he wasn't sure of what he was really doing," Reid pointed out, "But then you notice that with victim five, there's no hesitation at all."

"He obviously got over whatever was making him hesitant real fast," Morgan said, crossing his arms and leaning forward on the table. "Victim seven was found only a week and a half after victim six."

"And now he seems to have become a pro at it," Emily stated with obvious distaste.

JJ pulled a face. "He seems to be… "enjoying" it more."

Hotch seemed to agree with that as well. "He takes his time with them now when before it was he was just doing it to do it. He tortures them. His need to watch them suffer has grown considerably." Everyone took a moment to absorb this. "Alright, wheels up in forty, and remember to pack a coat. Montana's snow fall has almost reached record high."

There was a "Greaaaaat," from Morgan and a few other grumbles before everyone gathered up their belongings and filed out of the briefing room.

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"_Sweet_ mother-of-God!" was the first thing out of Derek's mouth the moment he stepped off the plane. Hotch hadn't been exaggerating about the snow. And by God, it was _freezing_!

'I don't think I _quite_ rank up there with the Virgin Mother,' Garcia's voice sounded from the other end of the phone, 'But I'm definitely close.'

He smirked at that. "You got that right, baby girl," he said with a small laugh as he pulled his coat tighter up around his neck. "Now, how about you use those near-Godly skills of yours to get me that information?"

'I do so as we speak,' was her reply. 'A goddess has many powers, multitasking being one of them.'

Morgan chuckled. "Alright, Mama, I'll let'cha get to it then. Call me back if you turn up anything."

'Sure thing, gorgeous. Ciao for now.' And then she was gone.

Hanging up his phone, he tucked it in his pocket before shoving his hand right in after it. He _really_ did not like the cold.

"Hurry up, Morgan!" Emily called from where she was sticking her head out of the door of one of the two SUVs that had been waiting for them on the tarmac. "You're gonna turn into a popsicle!"

The man jogged up to the SUV, tossing his bag in the back before he climbed into the driver's seat and took the keys from the brunette. He let out a "burr" sound as he physically shook off a shiver that was slinking down his back.

Emily smirked. "Not a fan of the snow?"

"Oh no, I like the snow," he told her as he started the SUV and followed the other one containing Hotch, JJ, and Reid out of the airport and onto the road. "I grew up Chicago. Snowball fights, sledding, snowmen, ice hockey –the whole thing. I just hate the cold."

"Snow and cold generally go hand in hand," Emily pointed out, eyebrow raised.

"And there in lies my dilemma." He shot her a smirk and then reached over, turning up the heat.

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"Detective Henderson? I'm Agent Jareau," JJ started before she gestured toward her colleagues. She was about to continue with the introductions, but there was something in the detective's overly-intense stare aimed her way that made her trail off. A beat passed. "Detective?"

He blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry," he immediate apologized as he seemed to snap out of his daze. He ran a hand through his short red hair, an obvious sign of embarrassment. "You just…"

"Look like all of the victims?" she offered. The whole team had picked up on that from the start.

He gave her a tired smile. "Yeah," he breathed. "It's just been a long couple of weeks." The dark circles under his eyes and his somewhat haggard appearance was testament to that.

JJ smiled sympathetically and nodded. "We understand."

Henderson took a breath and then motioned for her to continue. "You were saying?"

"These are Agents Hotchner, Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid," she introduced, gesturing to each member of the team as she said their names.

Henderson shook all of their hands. "Thanks for coming. We thought we had a handle on the situation, but apparently we were wrong." It was rare for detectives who were about to have their case taken over to be so…humble about it. Obviously this case had taken a serious toll on this man. "Why don't you come on inside before you catch your death from this cold?"

The team was more than happy to acquiesce. They all shuffled inside the police station, shaking off some of the snow that had accumulated on their outerwear.

"We set you up an area in one of the conference rooms like you asked," Henderson told them as he led the way. When they entered, each noticed that pictures of the victims and crime scene photos were already displayed on a whiteboard. Each victim had a label above their pictures with their names and the number in which they had been killed, not that it was really necessary. With the increase in severity of the murders, it was easy to put them in order.

Henderson randomly pointed towards a side table that had coffee brewing and a bunch of random snacks that looked like they had all come from a vending machine piled up in a basket. "Can't take credit for this one," he admitted. "It was my partner's idea. He figured you'd probably end up needing it just as much as we do around here."

"Thank you," Hotch said sincerely, appreciating the gesture.

An approaching voice caught the attention of everyone. "Hey Tate, have they gotten here ye…" the thirty-something-year old raven-haired man that had strode into the room suddenly trailed off when he noticed everyone standing there. "Ok, apparently they have." He flashed a weary smile and introduced himself. "I'm Detective Wyatt Brentwood." He looked almost as tired as Detective Henderson.

"These are Agents Hotchner, Reid, Jareau, Morgan, and Prentiss," Tate told his partner. Everyone greeted each other before resuming their previous positions.

"Agent Jareau –you were the one I spoke to on the phone?" Brentwood asked the blonde.

JJ nodded. "Yeah, that would have been me," she replied.

Wyatt smiled almost brightly at her before he smothered it. A moment later, his face adopted a somber expression. "Well, I hate to break up the party, but another body showed up. They're waiting for us."

Immediately snapping into action, Hotch nodded before he gave out assignments. "JJ, Reid, I want you to stay here and get to work on the profile." There was no argument from the two. "Morgan and Prentiss, you're with me." He looked at Henderson and Brentwood. "Lead the way, Detectives."

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"Have I mentioned how much I hate the cold?" Morgan groused as he, Hotch, and Emily piled out of the SUV at the crime scene.

"Actually," Emily said with more than a little amusement in her tone, "yes, yes you have."

Hotch cast the pair a look before he followed the two detectives into a wooded area off of the dirt road they had turned onto a while back. The snow was up to their mid-calves and still falling. It definitely wasn't going to help the crime scene, that was for sure.

They trudged through the snow for about ten minutes, following the tracks of the officials that had already been through there, until they finally came upon the scene. There were several police and investigative personnel milling around. Those already there had had the forethought to put a tarp-tent up above the body so they could work the crime scene without it getting any further contaminated by the falling snow.

"What do we have?" Hotch asked, not wasting time.

The CSI crouching over the body next to the M.E. looked up. They had all heard that the FBI was coming and he assumed that this guy had to be one of them. He rose to his feet. "Female victim, mid-twenties, blonde hair and blue eyes," he rattled off. "Ligature marks on both wrists and ankles…"

"No ID?" Morgan questioned, moving a little closer to get a better look at the woman.

The CSI shook his head. "No, not that we could find, but then again," he gestured toward the body, "she's only in a tank top and her underwear."

Emily frowned a bit. All the victims had been found in similar clothing. "Not exactly the type of clothing you'd wear in this weather."

"Definitely not," the CSI agreed.

Hotch took a moment to take in the entire scene before asking, "Do we have a cause of death?" It could clearly be seen that the woman had been viciously stabbed, her blood turning the white snow a deadly shade of red, but that didn't necessarily mean that that had caused her death.

This time the M.E. looked up, her green eyes wrought with equal sadness and disgust. "There is so much damage here that it's hard to determine the exact cause of death. I'm going to need to get her back to the morgue and give her a more thorough examination before I'll be able to tell you that."

Nodding, Hotch turned to Morgan and watched as the younger man studied the area before he finally asked, "What are you thinking?"

Morgan looked at him. "It's secluded," he began, "And it's got an access road that isn't easily visible from the road. I would have driven right past if it we hadn't been lead here."

"So he knows about the road. Maybe he's a local?" Emily offered, crossing her arms against the cold.

"Who uses the road?" Hotch questioned, turning to Henderson.

"Rangers mostly," Tate replied. "And the occasional hunter, but it's true what she said. You'd have to be a real local to know about it."

Brentwood nodded in agreement. "It's nearly impossibly to see from the road. It's not marked at all. And it's not used a lot so the undergrowth tends to hide it even more."

Emily chewed the inside of her bottom lip in thought. "But who's to say that the unsub accessed this area by the road? He could have brought her in from another direction and left her here so she'd eventually be found." She paused a beat. "Who found her anyway?"

"Local hunter," one of the officers there told her, pointing to a man that was being questioned by one of the other officers. The hunter was dressed in all camo gear apart from the bright orange vest he was wearing over top of everything else. "His name is Jesse Tiller."

"Do people usually go out hunting in this type of weather?"

"When it's hunting season, sure," the officer replied, "Especially if they have their own cabins out here."

Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss all shared a glance.

"Does Tiller have a cabin out here?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, Sir. 'Bout two miles southeast of here."

"Morgan," was all Hotch had to say. The younger man nodded and headed over to speak with Tiller.

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"Do they always do that?" Reid questioned as he stood in front of the board and studied it.

JJ looked up from the file she was reading. "Excuse me?"

"Detective Brentwood."

She raised an eyebrow, not quite following.

Reid glanced over his shoulder at her. "Detective Brentwood smiled at you."

"Uh, yeah. So?"

"He only smiled at _you_, and his body language seemed to suggest an attraction," the younger man elaborated. "I was just curious to know if they all did that."

JJ frowned. "I don't know who 'they all' are, but given that_you're_ the super genius profiler, wouldn't you be more qualified to answer that question?"

Reid paused a beat, crossing one arm and resting the other on top of it so that he could run his thumb across his bottom lip as he thought of what to say. "I've noticed it happen on several occasions," he finally admitted.

"And does that bother you?" she questioned, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

He blinked and then turned back to the board. "Of course not."

"Than why are we having this conversation instead of staying focused on the case?" JJ pressed, drumming her fingers on her crossed arms.

Reid was silent again until he finally shrugged and simply said, "I was just curious if you noticed, too."

"Yes," she reluctantly told him, "I've noticed, too. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Back to the case?"

"Back to the case."

"Okay." Unsure of whether to smirk or sigh, JJ ran a hand through her hair and then returned her attention to the files in front of her. Sometimes she really wondered about Reid.

TO BE CONTINUED!

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(A/N: Ok, so this was one of my more random fic ideas, one of those ideas that come to you at like 3 in the morning and you just have to write it down or you'll forget and then it'll drive you insane. Yeah, it was one of those. Anyway, more to come soon! Remember to feed the muse and CLICKY CLICKY! LOVES!)


	2. A Twist

_Disclaimer_: Not mine. Just playin' with them!

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**SHOUT OUTS!**

(_Author's Notes:_ I was actually quite overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter so before I do individual shout outs, I just wanted to give y'all one bit THANK YOU!! It's y'all that inspire me to keep writing! –HUGS FOR EVERYONE–)

_Television-Fanatic_ – THANKS!

_Angelus-Summers_ – MUAHAHA! You'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens to her! I promise it won't be disappointing!

_wavscaper_ – Well, thank you! –giggles– Thanks for being such a loyal reader of my fics!

_SSA JoJo_ – Oh, wow! Well, I'm so glad you signed up and that you're lovin' the story! And yes, the beginning was a bit naughty, wasn't it? HEHE! Reeled you in though, didn't it? WOO!

_AscaDuin_ – JJ is my favorite character as well! (Obviously, hehe) Oh, and don't worry about it being a JJ/Reid fic. I tend to like to keep my fics as canon as possible, so there won't be anything in this that wouldn't happen on the show. Anyway, thanks for the review and here's…the continuation to the journey!

_Linda66_ – JJCentric is what I do! Hehehe! And yes, there isn't a ton of JJ in this chapter either, but don't worry, it's coming and it'll be worth it! Also, fear not, _Crash and Burn_ is still in motion! I'm just a fic hopper. I write for one and then jump to the next and so on.

_butterfly-92_ – Thank you! I'm quite keen on my beginning as well, LOL! It was rather evil of me, but the wait to get back to that point will be worth it!

_Vince_ – Not ALWAYS working…It just works better at night. HEHE. And shhh, no spoiling!

_egoofy34_ – Thanks for the review! Here's your update!

_Jamie_ – What happened to Jamily? HEHE You flatter me too much, my dear, you and your hair. –shakes fist– :-P hehehe FLOVE YOU, TOO!

_I heart TV 'tv-luvin-hottie'_ – That's some penname! LOL! I'm glad you're lovin' it! I'm with Morgan, too! I love the snow, but after a while, the cold really begins to suck!

_innocentchoirgirl_ – HEHE Fanks, my Fishy! MUAHAHAHA! I've gotten you into another fandom. I'm so wicked! LOVE YA!

_naquada_ – YAY! Glad you enjoyed it! Here's your update!

_Princess Shlay_ – HEHE Yeah, I thought a little peek into the future would be engaging for the readers. I guess I was right! Just wait 'til I get to that point in the story! It'll be even better!

_Evan Lorne_ – Don't worry! There'll be more Hotch soon enough!

_Roma81_ – Wow, me? The go-to for JJ fics? YAAAAAAAY!!! That was totally my goal all along. –nods vigorously– LOL!! Don't worry! I'm still working on the others too! As I told Linda66, I'm a fic hopper. I just jump from one to the next and so on! HEHE There will be more of all of them very soon!

_sydcasy_ – Always gotta aim for a great start to capture the reader's attention, isn't that what they teach you in school? LOL! –hugs– Thanks for the review!

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**CHAPTER 2 **

"Mister Tiller?" Morgan questioned as he approached the hunter. He flashed his credentials. "I'm Agent Morgan with the FBI. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

The man scratched his chin, his unshaven face itching in the cold. "I already told Officer Whatever-His-Name-Is everything I know," the man replied irritably. "All I did was trip over the body when I was tracking a buck. I didn't even see her until then. That's it."

"You didn't notice all that blood?" Morgan asked skeptically. "I mean, it _is_ everywhere."

Tiller clenched his jaw, obviously agitated. "I winged the buck I was tracking. I thought it was his blood."

Morgan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He crossed his arms instead. "Oh, come on, man. You can't honestly want me to believe that you thought _all_ that blood was from a winged deer." He glanced over at the weapon the police officer had confiscated from the hunter. Moving over to it, Morgan picked up the rifle and examined it. "And isn't this a little overkill for a deer?"

Jesse Tiller was beginning to fidget now, an obvious sign that Morgan was on to something.

"Hell, this is a bit of overkill even for a black bear. Isn't the general huntin' rule of thumb somethin' about keeping it in the thirty-caliber range for black bears? It's not the caliber but placement of the shot?" Morgan paused and then turned back to Tiller, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly. "Unless you weren't huntin' deer…or black bears."

"I didn't kill that girl!" Tiller exclaimed.

"No, you were just killin' somethin' else that you shouldn't have been killin'."

"N-no I wasn't!"

Morgan smiled slyly and got closer to the man, right up into his personal space. "So, you're tellin' me if we go to your cabin, we aren't gonna find say…somethin' like a dead Grizzly? That is a protected species, you know."

Tiller swallowed thickly. "No, of course not. Hunting Grizzlies is illegal and I haven't done anything illegal."

"Well actually," Morgan began as he pulled back, "that rifle of yours? You need a special permit for that, a very special permit that civilians can't generally get. Would you happen to have that permit?"

The hunter didn't say a word.

"That's what I thought. Now, which would you rather be penalized for? Killing an endangered species that could get you a year in jail or carrying an unregistered, civilian-unattainable firearm that'll could get you a dime?"

"Christ! Come on, man!"

"All I'm askin' for is the truth, Mister Tiller."

Pulling his hat off of his head, Tiller scratched his head agitatedly. "It wasn't a deer. It was a Grizzly. I shot it and it took off, and I tripped over her when I was chasing it," he confessed. "But I called the cops when I found her. I did the right thing!"

Shaking his head, Morgan motioned for the officer standing by to take Tiller.

"It was just a fuckin' bear! Give me a break!" Jesse yelled as he was led away.

Morgan headed back over to Hotch, Prentiss, and the two detectives. He shook his head before anyone could ask if thought it was their guy or not.

Henderson nodded. "I still want his cabin checked out to be sure," he said. It was just a precaution, but a necessary one. Tiller might not have been their man, but that didn't mean he couldn't be in on it.

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By the time Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss arrived back at the station, JJ and Reid had already been given the crime scene photos. They had put them up on the board with the others, the label only saying "Victim 8" as they didn't know who she was yet.

JJ stood in front of the board, adopting Reid's earlier position, as she stared at the new photos. They were gruesome to say the least.

"Yeah, Doll Face, they're on their way right now," Morgan was saying into the phone, obviously talking to Garcia. "Run the pictures through the–"

'Facial recognition software, I know,' she interrupted, 'This isn't my first dance with the dark side, Sugar.'

Morgan smirked ever so slightly before his expression grew somber again. "I know, I know. I just…really want to get this bastard."

'I know that, too. I can feel you brooding through the phone. Now, you go back to doing your thing, and I'll do mine, and I'll call you back as soon as I have anything.'

Rubbing his forehead, Morgan walked over to the board and stood next to JJ. "Alright, Baby Girl, thanks."

'Anything for you, my gorgeous man.'

Closing his phone, Morgan clipped it to his belt and then returned his attention to the board. "Garcia couldn't find anything in common with the victims besides their appearance, age, and location," he told everyone, turning half way so he could face them and the board at the same time. "They're all over the spectrum as far as social status goes."

It was a pretty simple victimology, but a scary one at that. It meant that any woman in their mid-twenties with blonde hair and blue eyes could be a target. And with the unsub's rapid escalation…Well, that did not bode well for the community at all.

"All the bodies are dumped in fairly secluded areas," Reid pointed out, "But at the same time, they're areas where they'll eventually be discovered."

"Speaks to the unsub's desire not to be caught, but also his desire for his victims to be found," Hotch added in his very clinical sort of way. "He wants his work to be noticed."

Morgan wandered away from the board to pour himself a cup of coffee while he thought over everything. He was still freezing from being out in the snow.

Emily took his spot beside JJ and studied the new photos. There was a stretch of silence before the brunette pointed to one, a close-up of the victim's face, and said, "Do you see what I see?"

JJ stared for a moment and then with a very pronounced frown, nodded. "Yeah."

All three men looked at the pair.

"What?" Morgan asked.

JJ pulled the picture off of the board and moved over to the table, Emily following. She placed it down so everyone could huddle around to see what she was pointing at. "There," JJ said, "see that?" There were murmurs of affirmation and nods from the others. "Her hair was dyed."

Morgan frowned. "Dyed as in…went to the salon?"

Both JJ and Emily shook their heads.

"No," Emily replied, "as in had her hair dyed out of a box."

"Are you thinking that the unsub dyed this victim's hair to match the others?" Reid asked, disturbed the thought.

Morgan was quick to add, "Are we sure she didn't dye it herself?"

Both women gave the man a look. "Hate to break it to you, Morgan, but women are very conscientious about their hair. There is _no_ way this woman would do a box job this bad _and_ leave dye on her forehead," Emily stated. She hadn't noticed the hair until now because of all the snow at the crime scene and because of the fact that she hadn't gotten that close to the body.

"This was done by someone who didn't know what they were doing," JJ added. "Or was in a rush."

"Or was doing it to someone who may have been struggling," Hotch said grimly, crossing his arms. He didn't like this at all.

The heavy moment was suddenly broken by Brentwood walking into the room with a file in his hand. "We just got some results back from both the morgue and the lab. Apparently this woman had her hair–"

"Dyed," Emily and JJ said simultaneously.

The man blinked. "Wow, you guys _are_ good." He walked over and handed Hotch the folder. "Yeah, apparently our victim was previously a brunette who had had a really bad dye job done a few hours prior to her death. The lab tech said the dye had hardly even settled before our victim was killed and dumped."

"Could it be a copycat?" Emily questioned, leaning against the conference table.

JJ shook her head. "Specifics haven't been given to the media. All the public knows is that there have been a series of murders in the area."

Brentwood nodded in agreement. "We were sure not to give the media too much for fear of panic."

"Good thinking," Hotch said with a nod of approval. He paused, glancing at the down at the file in his hand. He flipped through it to the coroner's report, reading it quickly before speaking again. "The coroner couldn't get an exact time of death because the body was in the snow, but rigor mortis confirms that she was killed roughly within three hours of her being found."

Morgan rubbed the back of his neck, clenching his jaw tightly for a few seconds. "That makes it what? Nine days between murders now?" It was more of a statement than a question. "This bastard is getting worse by each passing second. If he continues the way he is now, we're gonna be seeing a lot more bodies in a very short amount of time."

"And now they don't have to be naturally blonde," JJ bleakly pointed out. "He can do that himself."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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(A/N: Yes, I know this chapter was lacking JJness in this supposedly JJCentric fic, but I'm getting to it! Fear not! You know what to do! CLICKY CLICKY! LOVES TO ALL!)


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